Tortilla Horizontal

Discipline

Multidisciplinary

Issue

Cultural Identity

Housing/Homelessness

Nutrition/Food

Semester/Year

Summer 2015

Program

Impact Awards

La Tortilleria Horizontal built an experimental tortilla factory in Mexico City to engage the local community in conversation about the impact of GMO on corn and Mexican culture.

Corn holds a significant place in Mexican culture and history, and many native species are being endangered by big agriculture. La Tortilleria Horizontal built an experimental tortilla factory in Mexico City to engage the local community in conversation about the impact of GMO on corn and Mexican culture.

"Intriguing and unexpected people started to show up at the tortilleria and with them, they brought their own ideas and experiences. The tortilla was a simple space that offered a way to approach certain ideas but it was also way more about what the people did with those ideas and how they contributed and built upon that. The participation and engagement of the people who had the opportunity to stumble upon the project was the substance of what the tortilleria was all about and it is definitely what made the project so enriching and beautiful."

The team constructed a temporary storefront that operated for four weeks, hosting lectures, workshops, concerts, and communal meals. Community members could directly connect with their food heritage by making their own tortillas and engaging in dialogue around corn and GMO. Team La Tortilleria Horizontal envisioned this successful temporary operation as an interactive vehicle for awareness and community building that could be replicated at future sites.